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Rusted Moss review

written 2025-01-31

Rusted Moss is a metroidvania I played in 2025/01. It took me about 9 hours to finish. I did not try to 100%, though, unlike most of the metroidvanias I've played.

Platforming

Let's talk about the platforming first, because it's the main strength of this game, and it focuses on it more than other metroidvanias I've played. It's mostly based on a grappling-hook that you can attach to certain surfaces and swing from. The physics simulation is quite detailed, and makes for the coolest and most unique platforming experiece I've seen so far. The grappling hook's line is elastic, so it doesn't immediatly pull you toward things, but stretches out and then rebounds. You get the most upward momentum by attaching it while you're falling fast, causing you to fall just a little bit farther and then shoot up rapidly. You eventually get an upgrade that lets you manually shorten the line, giving you more momentum toward it. Often a platforming challenge seems impassable, but if you use the grappling hook right you can actually get more than enough momentum.

I also like how some of the weapons factor into platforming. The shotgun has a recoil which can be used as a double jump by shooting it downward. The rocket launcher can give you some momentum by shooting a surface near you.

I also like the ichor mechanic, which is a type of hazard that you can touch for short moments without taking damage. You have an ichor meter that fills rapidly while you're touching it, and only take damage when it's full. It's a neat way to have intermediate outcomes between dodging or not dodging an attack, and it's kind of like a regenerating shield on top of your health, which you don't otherwise have.

Combat

Combat is exclusively gun-based, with no ammo system, although most guns have limited range. There are 6 you can find throughout the game, you carry all of them at once and can switch between them. The starting weapon, the machine gun, seemed the best to me for most of the game, specifically its secondary fire mode, which lets you charge a burst of fire and then quickly unload it once in range. However, you do move slower with it charged, so it's not like you always want to be charging it when you're not shooting; you have to consider the situation.

One thing I really like is how it mixes platforming with combat. Many other action platformers I've played do this, but only sometimes, and almost never in bosses. Rusted Moss does it nearly all the time. Most bosses are fought in interesting arenas with arrangements of platforms, hazards, and bounce pads. Many bosses also chase you very fast and have contact damage, requiring mastery of the game's unique movement mechanics to keep distance.

Speaking of bosses, I also *really* appreciate that they have a little number next to their life bar that shows how many phases are left. No fakeout boss victories with surprise extra phases.

Unfortunately, some enemy attacks have no telegraph that I could find, but that's the only objective criticism of combat I can make.

Progression

Most upgrades come from exploration rather than money. In fact, there are very few things for sale in the game, and I was almost able to buy out every shop the first time I reached it. I'm glad that money plays such a small role.

Saving

Rusted Moss uses a traditional chronological save system (that is, dying is like going back in time to your most recent save, undoing everything since), which I find refreshing. It can be frustrating to have accomplishments undone, or to have to trek back to a save point inbetween everything to avoid it, but I presonally prefer it to what most other metroidvanias seem to be doing these days, which is copying the Dark Souls bloodstain system where you lose all your money on death and have to go back to where you died to get it back.

Information

Like most other games, it usually doesn't show quantity information about what its items do (like "Increases bullet damage", but not by how much), but it's worse here, because when buying an item in a shop, you *can't even see how many equipment points it'll cost to equip*. In every other game I've played with a similar equipment system (Hollow Knight, Nine Sols, etc) you can see that.

Inconsistency

A lot of my issues with the game come down to a general theme of inconsistency. Some enemies do contact damage, some don't. Sometimes touching an environmental hazard respawns you at your last stable ground, sometimes it doesn't. In some areas the damage you take from falling into a bottomless pit is 1, in some areas it's 4. Sometimes the grappling hook has aim assist, somtimes it doesn't (when you have to hook it on a very small moving object several times in a row).

Story

Rusted Moss's story sucks. It's about a conflict between humans and fae, but both sides are evil, including the fae protagonist. The fae kidnap children and murder and steal people's faces because they think it's funny. There is some dialogue between the protagonist and her sidekick that suggests they might be willing to grow a conscience, but that doesn't actually happen. The lack of a likable protagonist is my main problem with the story.

Dialogue is written in a bland and boring way, as if it's a draft. Characters often just say what they want in the most direct way possible, like "Thank you for saving me! I hope my friends are safe too. I will go and find them."

Also, the gender trend really stands out to me. For some reason nearly the entire cast is female, both fae and humans. Maybe it's a reaction to many stories having male-heavy casts, but I don't think a cast of all women is better than a cast of all men. I also find it funny that the characters refer to humanity's period of dominance as "the Age of Men" when there are basically no men in the game.

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